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Airbolt 
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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 Posted - 11/17/2006 : 23:50:42
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OK - This was prompted by an afternoon showing of 633 Squadron . For those unfamiliar with this War film it was one of the major inspirations for the Death Star Trench Sequence. Plucky Royal Air Force Pilots ( lead by Cliff Robertson ! ) attack a German Heavy Water Plant hidden under an outcrop at the end of a narrow fjord full of Flak Positions. Its worth a watch although there are some truly awful Back Projections and Oak performances .
Anyway in amongst this lot is a Norwegian Resistance Fighter. Who to cast - why George Chakiris of course! He even keeps a luxurious 1960's Hairstyle ( see also Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare ! )
Poor old George both looked and acted pure Teak.
Anyway , I wondered if anyone else had some light-hearted examples of Hollywood's slightly odd casting of other nationalities.
I mean , Tia Carrere as Japanese ?
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benj clews 
"...."
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Posted - 11/17/2006 : 23:53:24
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| Arnold Schwarzenegger as an American. |
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 11/17/2006 : 23:56:41
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| Highlander is a double whammy... a Frenchman as a Scotsman and a Scotsman (who doesn't do foreign accents) as a Spaniard. At least if they'd swapped roles they'd have been 50% closer... |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 01:13:28
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| A lot of Latin Americans complained about Jennifer Connelly playing Alicia Nash, the wife of John Nash who in reality was El Salvadorian, in A Beautiful Mind. Although Connelly won a well-deserved Academy Award for the performance, there is a legitimate arguement that this could have been the breakout role for an equally qualified Latina actress less well-known than Connelly. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 02:11:44
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EVERYONE in Rapa-Nui. And I mean everyone. 
Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett. This may not have seemed so bizarre/funny to non-Kiwis though. Kiwis just weren't expecting to find Maoris in another galaxy...
Charlton Heston as a Mexican in Touch of Evil.
All the blacks in Birth of a Nation (played by whites).
Harrison Ford as a Russian in K-19.
Sean Connery as a Russian in Hunt for Red October. |
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Joe Blevins
"Don't I look handsome?"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 02:45:25
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| I was apparently the only one puzzled by the casting of Tim Burton's Big Fish. No one else I know who saw the movie thought much about it. Did it come up in the reviews much? Albert Finney, Danny De Vito, Ewan McGregor, and Helena Bonham Carter *all* cast as American Southerners? For a movie which presents a rather sentimental, sepia-toned, romantic view of The Great American South, Big Fish seems to have a paucity of actual Southerners in its main cast. |
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Conan The Westy 
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 04:59:52
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| Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in Evil Angels AKA A Cry in the Dark. |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 05:27:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Blevins
I was apparently the only one puzzled by the casting of Tim Burton's Big Fish. No one else I know who saw the movie thought much about it. Did it come up in the reviews much? Albert Finney, Danny De Vito, Ewan McGregor, and Helena Bonham Carter *all* cast as American Southerners? For a movie which presents a rather sentimental, sepia-toned, romantic view of The Great American South, Big Fish seems to have a paucity of actual Southerners in its main cast.
It never bothered me because they all did a pretty convincing job. I felt the same about Cold Mountain starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, etc. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 08:52:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Enlightened
Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in Evil Angels AKA A Cry in the Dark.
Meryl Streep is miscast in almost everything she's ever been cast in - but her Polish accent in Sophie's Choice was horrid! (Or at least, that's what the Poles I know told me.)
I've seen many Jewish (Israelis in particular) actors cast in Hollywood films as Arabs. The movie that stands out the most would be "Not Without my Daughter" where almost all the Iranians are played by Israeli Jews, except for London born, Spanish/Italian background Alfred Molina!
On the other hand, there are actors like Makram Khoury - one of Israel's finest Arab Israeli actors who has been cast as a Jew almost as many times as he's been cast as an Arab. And yes, even in Israeli movies this happens. But at least he gets cast, unlike many of his equally talented compatriots.
I also enjoy watching Santiago, Chile born Cote de Pablo play the part of Israeli ex-Mossad agent, Ziva David on NCIS. She doesn't do a bad job, but her accent isn't Israeli - trust me on this one.
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 09:01:22
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quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
quote:
Originally posted by Joe Blevins
I was apparently the only one puzzled by the casting of Tim Burton's Big Fish. No one else I know who saw the movie thought much about it. Did it come up in the reviews much? Albert Finney, Danny De Vito, Ewan McGregor, and Helena Bonham Carter *all* cast as American Southerners? For a movie which presents a rather sentimental, sepia-toned, romantic view of The Great American South, Big Fish seems to have a paucity of actual Southerners in its main cast.
It never bothered me because they all did a pretty convincing job. I felt the same about Cold Mountain starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, etc.
Jude is going southern again in "All the King's Men". I saw him interviewed by Jay Leno and what shocked me was that he didn't know that the movie was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren. He said something like "well, I hear the book is very popular here and Willie Stark is some kind of American icon" - well, DUH!
And Sean Penn does NOT look like Willie Stark. He's a skinny little squeeking guy and not a big sweating roaring guy that is described in the book. |
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Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:21:46
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
And Sean Penn does NOT look like Willie Stark. He's a skinny little squeeking guy and not a big sweating roaring guy that is described in the book.
Sort of a John Goodman / Charles Durning type of Actor . Possibly Dennehy if its straight to DVD
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Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:25:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Blevins
I was apparently the only one puzzled by the casting of Tim Burton's Big Fish. No one else I know who saw the movie thought much about it. Did it come up in the reviews much? Albert Finney, Danny De Vito, Ewan McGregor, and Helena Bonham Carter *all* cast as American Southerners? For a movie which presents a rather sentimental, sepia-toned, romantic view of The Great American South, Big Fish seems to have a paucity of actual Southerners in its main cast.
While we are in the South what about Michael Caine taking the Southern accent and giving it a going over in " Hurry Sundown " . |
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Whippersnapper. 
"A fourword thinking guy."
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:26:02
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Not quite a nationality issue, but Michael Caine in "Get Carter" as a Geordie [that's someone from the Newcastle area].
His accent is pure Sowf Lund'n and anyone who understands anything about English accents knows there is no way anyone with his accent could ever have lived in Newcastle. It's also a stark contrast with the authentic Geordie (or at least northern) accents of most of the cast.
For me its an irritating blot on an otherwise superb film.
Of course some actors specialised in playing foreign nationalities.
Erik Rhodes portrayal of the comic Italian in "The Gay Divorcee" and "Top Hat" were hilarious, and that from a boy from Oklahoma City. If he had any Italian blood in him it must have been from a transfusion. Italians apparently loved his portrayal but Mussolini banned him as insulting the Italian nation. (There's an irony there as no-one did more to lower the world's opinion of Italy than Mussolini.)
And some actors could be called upon to play a wide range of foreign nationalities. Anthony Quinn - what didn't he play? Eskimos, Red Indians, Greeks, Arabs, even Mexicans! (He was born in Mexico but brought up in LA and was half Irish).
Another example I can think of was the great Akim Tamiroff. He was Spanish, Corsican, Mexican, Turkish, Chinese... He's perhaps best remembered for his performance as Uncle Joe in "Touch of Evil". In fact he was born in Georgia - when it was part of the Russian Empire - and was of Armenian descent.
Airbolt, I'm surprised you missed the fact that the casting of George Chakiris as a Norwegian was a deliberate philosophical statement by the filmmakers, a visual cue that a film cannot portray the true horrors of war and therefore must be seen as a fictionalisation.
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Edited by - Whippersnapper. on 11/18/2006 13:43:00 |
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Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:32:13
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Yul Brynner was another actor Hollywood found easy to cast as "vaguely exotic".
Tony Curtis as a Viking |
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Whippersnapper.
"A fourword thinking guy."
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:44:48
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quote:
Originally posted by AIRBOLT
Yul Brynner was another actor Hollywood found easy to cast as "vaguely exotic".
Tony Curtis as a Viking
With Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine.  |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 11/18/2006 : 14:43:10
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quote:
Originally posted by AIRBOLT
Yul Brynner was another actor Hollywood found easy to cast as "vaguely exotic".
Omar Sharif?
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Hollywood Miscasting of other nationalities
